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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller #review

I’ll admit from the start that I’m a huge Mary Renault fan, so when Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles came up on my reading pile, I recalled The Persian Boy and devoured Miller’s offering from cover to cover in less than a week. Like all mythological tales, this one is a tragedy and, I felt a lump in my throat and was a bit teary-eyed at the end, even though I knew how the story of Achilles would conclude.

Miller breathes life into the legend, in an historical retelling that incorporates some of the magic of ancient times. Immortal Chiron the centaur and Thetis the sea nymph are clothed in flesh and walk among mortals.

The gods are real, easy to anger, difficult to appease, and are as bloodthirsty and manipulative as ever. The stage is set, and the tale is told by Patroclus, a disgraced prince in exile, and how he becomes the favoured companion of Achilles, who was destined for greatness. As narrator, Patroclus exists as the opposite of golden Achilles, who oozes charisma, beauty and near-divine physical prowess on the battlefield. Utterly devoted, and despite Thetis’s hatred of him and others’ disapproval, Patroclus follows Achilles no matter where he goes.

Achilles is faced with two fates: to live a long life and die old and in obscurity or to flare, briefly and be immortalised in legends. Well, there wouldn’t have been much of a story if he’d chosen the safer option, now would there?

Miller’s prose is lush, sensual and evocative, and she captures this age of heroes perfectly to the point where you can taste ripe figs or smell the stench of blood on the battlefield. Miller’s characters spring forth into startling life from the pages of one of the greatest legends.

BLOOD AND FIRE

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Nerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of SFF currently residing in Cape Town. Her short fiction has been published in an assortment of anthologies, including the Midian Unmade: Tales of Clive Barker's Nightbreed; The Endless Ages Anthology for Vampire: The Masquerade; the Wraeththu mythos; and War Stories: New Military Science Fiction, among others. Her YA fantasy novel Dragon Forged is a finalist in the 2017 Sanlam Youth Literature Prize, and she is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors' co-operative Skolion.